Jagannath

The “Festival of Chariots” is formally known as Jagannath Ratha-yatra and celebrated by millions of devotees in Puri, India every year. Jagannath is considered a form of Vishnu, or his avatar Krishna, by the Hindus and ISKCON devotees in the U.S.. Jagannath is worshipped as part of a triad on the “rathas” (chariots) along with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra by his devotees. The story goes that Lord Jagannath and his sibling enjoy water activities, locally known as ‘chapa khela’ in a special lake named as ‘Narendra Sarovar’ to beat the summer heat for 21 days. With the change of season, the Lords fall sick for which they are needed to stay indoors (in the temple) on a prescribed diet of fruits! When the Lords recover, they set out on a journey to break the monotony of temple.The free parade & festival is meant to offer the general public an opportunity for darśana, or public viewing of the Lords on parade.
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